DIY Princess Crown
Every Princess needs a crown, right? Since we made our DIY tutu and princess wand, we knew we needed a DIY princess crown next, to complete the costume.
Make Your Own Princess Costume Crown
How many crowns have I purchased from the Dollar Spot at Target or various other discount stores? About a million plastic crowns that Kate snaps in two less than 24 hours after purchase. True, I only paid a couple dollars for those things. But I was thinking: what could I make that wouldn't cost much but perhaps hold up better in the hands of my four-year-old?
After cruising around on trusty ole' Pinterest, I came across these tutorials for fabric crowns made with wide crocheted ribbon. It seemed pretty easy: some ribbon, fabric stiffener, and paint. No sewing! And Kate can easily help with the paint. That's a winner!
Supplies To Make Your Own Princess Costume Crown
- Wide crocheted ribbon. At the store, I pulled out a ream of the ribbon and measured around Kate's head. I ended up purchasing two yards; this was more than enough. I also ended up purchasing two types of ribbon because I wasn't sure which one would perform better. I determined that the wider ribbon (the one we painted gold) worked better.
- Fabric Stiffener
- Acrylic paint (Or multiple paints if you want to try more than one color.)
- Paint brush
- Scissors
- Adhesive (To glue the crown ends together)
- Wax Paper
- Newspaper
- Embellishments (These are optional, but I thought Kate would enjoy sticking sparkly stuff to the crown.)
Putting Together Your Princess Costume Crown
Cut a piece of plastic wrap and lay out your crocheted ribbon on top. Spray the ribbon with fabric stiffener. I held the bottle about six inches away and sprayed liberally down the entire length of the ribbon. I let it dry and resprayed it two more times.
After it was stiff enough that the ribbon stood up but was still easy enough to manipulate into a circle, I knew it was time to paint. I let Kate paint one crown gold and one crown silver. Pro tip: lay down newspaper and lay wax paper on top of the newspaper. Then lay the ribbon on top of the wax paper. That way, the ribbon won't adhere to the newspaper but you will still protect your work space.
We painted one side, then I flipped it, and we painted the other side. When you paint the ribbon, use short strokes, trying to stay in the same direction. I encouraged Kate not to use too much paint and to use short, even strokes. She mostly listened.
After painting each side (I didn't worry about trying to coat the ribbon completely.), I sprayed the ribbon with fabric stiffener and set them to dry. Once they dried, I sprayed them with fabric stiffener one more time, for a final quote.
We let the paint and fabric stiffener dry completely. Then I had Kate embellish the crown with the jewels she selected (These kind came with adhesive backs, which I recommend so you don't have to fuss with glue).
Then I measured around her head with the ribbon, noted where the crown felt snug but not too tight, and glued the ends of the crown together. We let the glue dry completely before handling the crowns. (Be sure you select a clear-drying glue!)
And then it was time to wear the crown!
These are so cute. I definitely prefer the gold one with the wider ribbon. These would be so fun for a little girl's birthday party. You could pre-stiffen and paint the crowns and let the girls decorate them. Or, if you're a photographer, these would make fun props. So fun!
Do your kids enjoy imaginative play and dressing up?
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